Gripping The Fire
by LegacyFPlus
Summary: Gripping The Fire is about a young mutant girl, Mika, who has to cope with a lot of problems, one being her sister. Mika soon snaps and her whole world is turned up-side down.
1. Chapter 1

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Gripping The Fire

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Chapter 1

Mika Shore grabbed her backpack and ran to the door. Closing it behind her, she ran down the stairs, grabbed a poptart that was sitting on the kitchen table, and headed to the front door.

"Adrea! Come on! We're gonna be late for school!" she called as she took some headphones out of her backpack. She put them around her neck and let them just sit there. She then reached back into her backpack, hit the play button on her portable CD player, and the earphones around her neck began to play music by The Donnas.

Just then Adrea ran down the stairs. "Don't rush me!" she said irritatedly as she ran past Mika and into the kitchen. Adrea grabbed two pieces of hot and buttered toast and then grabbed the backpack that hung on one of the chairs. "We're leaving Mom!" Adrea yelled.

"Be there in a second!" their mother called from her office. Adrea looked over herself in the mirror that hung next to the door. She ran her fingers through her short brown hair and snickered at Mika. "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all," she told her.

"Uh! It's kinda hard when you're always reading my mind. Now get out of my head!" Mika yelled.

"Now Mikael... Don't yell at your sister," their mother said walking in.

"Don't call me Mikael!" Mika said irritatedly. Their mom rolled her eyes and then leaned forward and hugged Adrea.

"Have a nice day girls," she said and then turned to go back to her study. Mika watched her mother walk away, a hurt expression across her face.

"Yes... She does like me more than she likes you. Now let's go," Adrea said with a smirk. Mika's lip curled up in disgust as she turned around and stepped out of the house. She closed the door behind her and then got into Adrea's baby blue Dodge Neon. Adrea started the car and the radio began blasting. Mika reached forward and hit the off button.

"What the hell?! This is my car! Don't even _think_ you can turn the radio off!" Adrea said. Adrea then hit the button again and the radio turned back on.

Mika put her earphones on her ears and tried to overpower Adrea's music with her own. 'Maybe if it's loud enough, she won't be able to read my mind...' she thought to herself.

Adrea suddenly laughed. "You think that can stop me?"

"Get out of my head! Don't you know what privacy is?!" Mika yelled, pulling her headphones off. "Thinking is the only way to have full privacy. No one knows what you're thinking but you. Why do you have to ruin that?!"

"Because I _can_ and because it's fun," Adrea answered in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Mika's lip curled up.

"Since you can just read my mind, there's no use in not saying things aloud. You disgust me. All you care about is _yourself_. Nothing else. Why can't you be a loving sister like all sisters are supposed to be?"

"Now that's not true. I care about my friends... And Kyle." Adrea smiled widely when she mentioned Kyle.

"I'm surprised you even have friends," Mika said under her breath.

"Guess what. The dance is coming up soon and my friends heard Kyle's going to ask someone to go with him today," Adrea said excitedly. She suddenly squealed with excitement.

Mika rolled her eyes. "He's a decent guy. He'll most likely ask _not_ you."

Adrea glared at Mika for a second. "I'm getting tired of your mouth. Just shut up."

"Not much use in that Adrea. You're constantly reading my mind, remember?"

Adrea snickered at that comment and then went back to focusing on driving. The rest of the way to school, Mika continued to say things about Adrea in her mind, hoping Adrea was listening. It would definitely make Mika's day if she were able to completely piss off Adrea.

At lunch, Mika and her friends sat comfortably outside in the shade of a large tree. That was usually where they ate and generally hung out.

"We still on for the concert on Friday?" her friend Kaylie asked her.

"Most definitely. Why would I bail on you guys?" she replied. When her group suddenly went quiet, she looked around at her friends and raised an eyebrow. They were staring at something behind her. She turned around and saw someone standing there right behind her. She looked up and jumped unexpectedly when she saw it was Kyle.

"Um... Kyle... Hi. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing pretty good. How 'bout you?"

"I'm alright. I'm guessing you're looking for Adrea. She's most likely still sitting at her regular table in the cafeteria."

"Actually... I wanted to talk to you... Is that alright?" he asked a bit nervous.

"Um... Yeah..." She looked at her friends as she stood up and gave them a confused look. They just shrugged their shoulders and watched the two of them walk away.

They walked over to another large tree that was a little ways away from where her friends were and then stood there silently for a few seconds. Mika finally broke the silence.

"Ok this is a little awkward. Just tell me what you want to talk to me about," she said leaning against the tree. He took a nervous and deep breath and then finally started talking.

"Well I was wondering... would you... go to the dance with me?"

The air suddenly caught in her throat. Was he really asking her? "Seriously? I mean... This isn't some cruel joke like from 'She's All That" or something is it?" she asked.

"No! Of course not!" Kyle quickly said. "I really, seriously want you to go with me to the dance."

"But why? Why _me_? There's nothing special about _me_," she said pushing off of the tree. She walked around to the other side of the tree and he followed her.

"But there is!"

"No there isn't. And you barely know me for goodness sakes!"

Kyle paused and just looked at her for a second. He then looked straight into her eyes and began to speak. "You're pretty. You're smart. You don't take crap from nobody. You like who you are. You have a great sense of humor. And you have one of the most beautiful smiles I've seen."

Mika stared at Kyle speechless. This was definitely not what she expected. Kyle raised an eyebrow. "You ok?"

"No! This is all wrong! You're supposed to ask _Adrea_ to the dance! Not _me_!" she said.

"Adrea? Why would I ask Adrea? I mean she's cute and all, but she's not exactly my type."

Mika was shocked. She couldn't believe he was asking _her_ of all people to the dance. She just stood there looking at Kyle for a few seconds. She didn't know whether to accept or not. She wasn't sure if this was some cruel joke or for real.

She suddenly shook her head. "I can't accept this. I'm sorry." She turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist. She turned back and looked at him. Grabbing her other wrist, he pulled her to him and they looked eye to eye.

"Please come with me," he asked softly. Her emotionless expression faded and she nodded her head.

"Alright. I'll go with you."

Kyle smiled widely. "Thank you. You won't regret accepting. Oh and sit with me at lunch tomorrow ok?" He then leaned forward, kissed her cheek softly, and walked away. Mika brought her hand up to her cheek and watched him walk away.

She walked back over to her friends and they began teasing her about Kyle.

"You better hope Adrea doesn't kill you," one of her friends said. "It's a good thing she wasn't out here to see that kiss..."

But unknown to them, Adrea had seen the whole thing from inside. She turned away from the window, anger burning in her eyes. Her angry expression suddenly changed into an evil grin. "You'll pay..." she whispered. She then plastered a smile onto her face and went to meet her friends.


	2. Chapter 2

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Gripping The Fire

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Chapter 2

Mika dreamt all night that night. They weren't exactly dreams though. They were closer to nightmares. Either that or really unpleasant dreams.

She kept dreaming that she was running from someone. She didn't know who or what she was running from, that is, until right before she woke up that morning. The person or thing was gaining on her and right before she woke up, someone grabbed her and she turned around to see only the man she feared most. He held a knife up in the air, ready to strike it at her.

"Dwayne! No!" she screamed as she shot up in her bed. She looked around nervously and tried to calm her short and heavy breathing. She was sweating and her heart was beating fast and hard in her chest.

She took a deep breath and then stepped out of bed. Looking out her window, she saw it was a beautiful clear day. She sighed as she ran her hands through her hair and then turned around when she heard her mother calling from downstairs.

"Mikael! Your sister's leaving in ten minutes!" she yelled up. Mika's eyes zoomed over to her clock. It read 7:05. School started at 7:30 and they were supposed to leave at 7:15.

"Crap! Why didn't my alarm go off?!" she said as she began scrambling to get ready.

At school, Mika sat with Kyle at lunch like he asked her to. She felt a bit awkward sitting with him however. He was one of the "popular" guys at the school and he had asked her to sit with him at lunch _and_ go to the dance. They barely knew each other and what was a little strange was he was a grade above her. Everyone thought it was a bit strange for someone to ask a person in a lower grade out. What made things even more strange about this was that he chose her over her sister, who just so happened to be one of the "popular" girls in school. Mika was no where near popular, nor was she as pretty as Adrea was. There were a lot of strange things about the current situation, but it seemed like it never bothered Kyle one bit, so she tried not to let it bother her.

He was a perfect gentleman at lunch even though most of the time he was talking to his friends. After they were finished eating, they all went outside and sat in the shade of a tree. They just talked about random things and laughed at random jokes.

While they talked, Kyle asked her if she would feel uncomfortable if he put his arm around her shoulder. She smiled.

"Aren't guys supposed to just put their arm around the girl's shoulder without asking?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he replied. "But I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"That's really sweet Kyle. Thank you for asking. No, I won't feel uncomfortable."

Kyle smiled at her and then put his arm around her shoulder. Mika looked around to see who all was outside. She then spotted Adrea. Adrea had the most evil expression on her face. It was of pure hate and it was directed at Mika.

Mika quickly turned away. That look scared her so bad. 'Maybe I shouldn't do this...' she thought to herself. 'It would be better if I didn't hang out with him or do anything with him...'

She looked up at Kyle and noticing this in the corner of his eye, he looked down at her and smiled. She smiled back at him. 'Forget it,' she said in her mind. 'If he wants to hang with me and go to the dance with me, then that's what he gets.'

She looked back over at Adrea, who was still glaring at her, and smiled victoriously at her. Adrea rolled her eyes at her and then turned away. Mika began laughing on the inside. Nothing felt more satisfying to Mika than pissing Adrea off. She turned her attention back to Kyle when he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Earth to Mika..." he said. Mika quickly looked up at him.

"Sorry... I was just thinking about something," she said a bit embarrassed, as she had zoned out for a bit.

"It's cool," Kyle said. "We're all going to the movies today after school. Wanna come with us?" he asked her.

"Um... I'm not sure if I can," she said a bit hesitantly.

"Aw... Why?"

"I got a lot of homework and stuff... It might take me awhile to get it done too 'cause I have Croakey's science."

"Aw! You have Mr.Croakey for science?! That sucks!"

"Yes it does," Mika agreed. "And on top of that, I totally suck at science. So I gotta be sure to get home and work on it."

"Yeah... Guess you're right." Kyle paused for a second. "Hey uh...How about we do something together tomorrow? You can make up for missing the movie," he said with a smile. Mika laughed.

"I'd love to, but I gotta study for the math test Berkley's giving on Friday."

"Well don't you have a busy week," Kyle said with a smile. "Well... I'm pretty good at math. How about I come over tomorrow and help you study?" he asked.

Mika raised an eyebrow. "Come to my house and help me study?" she asked, just a tad bit shocked. Kyle nodded his head. Mika looked down at the ground and rubbed her forehead for a second. "Um... Yeah, sure," she said looking back up at him. "That would be great."

"Are you sure? You didn't seem to excited when I said that."

"No! No it's fine. I was just trying to think if tomorrow would be ok."

"Oh ok. Well cool then," he said, still smiling. Mika practically melted from his smile. She wasn't the boy-crazy type of girl, but Kyle's smile seemed so perfect. She watched him as he looked down at his watch and his smile disappeared.

"Looks like we gotta get ready for our next classes," he said looking around at his friends. He stood up and then offered his hand to Mika. She took it and he pulled her up to her feet. He waited there with Mika until all his friends left and went inside.

"Thanks for hangin' out with me," he told her.

"Thanks for inviting me," she replied. They laughed and then there was a sudden awkward silence. Kyle quickly broke it.

"So uh... You sure it's ok if I come tomorrow? 'Cause I don't want to make you uncomfortable or impose on you or anything."

"No! No, no, no. I'd love for you to come over tomorrow. That would be great. I'll need the help. Math is my all-time worst subject ever."

Kyle smiled sweetly at her and she could feel her smiling cheeks turn hot. She hoped her cheeks hadn't turned red, as then he would know she was blushing.

"Alright. Well I'll call you tonight ok?" he told her. Mika nodded.

"Alright. See you later."

Kyle then turned and walked towards the doors and went inside the school. Mika sighed heavily as she leaned back against the tree trunk. Was this really happening? Was Kyle for real? Those questions kept going through her mind. All this seemed too good to be true. Was it?

She shook her head. 'Kyle has always been one of the nicest guys around. This is definitely really happening,' she thought to herself. She pushed off of the tree and went inside the school.

Opening her locker, she saw Adrea's reflection in her locker mirror. Adrea was down the hall talking to her friends. Adrea looked at Mika and raised an eyebrow.

'Enjoying this as much as I am?' Mika thought.

'Not as much as I will be,' Adrea's voice echoed in her head.

'Oh please,' Mika thought rolling her eyes.

'Might wanna watch your back Mika. You don't want anything to happen to you,' Adrea suddenly threatened.

'Whatever Adrea. I have better things to do than mentally talk to you.' Mika grabbed her backpack, threw in a couple textbooks, and then closed her locker. 'Chow,' she thought as she walked down the hall to her next class.

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Mika's eyes slowly began to close and her pen dropped out of her hand. Taking a deep breath, she crossed her arms over her open science book and rested her head on her arms.

It was 7:30 and she had been doing her homework all afternoon and evening. After four hours, sleep was finally taking over her. She slowly drifted into sleep and as she did, she began to dream.

She was somewhere that was just black. There was nothing at all but her. It wasn't dark though. She was able to fully see herself. Just her surroundings were black. There was suddenly a low laughing. It slowly grew louder and a set of red eyes suddenly appeared. Then another set, and another, and yet another. Sets of pure red eyes kept opening around her. They then suddenly all combined together and created one big face. It was terrifying. It looked like a vampire. It smiled and showed its fangs. It then began to lunge at her. She screamed and right before it reached her, she heard a ringing noise. The face stopped where it was and looked around, trying to figure out what the ringing sound was. Then it suddenly disappeared.

Just then, Mika became conscious she was dreaming and woke up. She was a bit sweaty and uncomfortable.

"Where are these nightmares coming from?" she said aloud. She heard ringing again. 'Am I still dreaming?' she thought. She then realized it was the phone. She scrambled over to her phone that sat on a table beside her bed and picked it up.

"He-hello?" she answered.

"Hey Mika. This is Kyle," the person on the other line said.

"Oh hey Kyle. What's up?"

"You ok?" he asked. "You sound kind... Shaky."

"I'm fine really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I just fell asleep while I was doing my homework and I had a nightmare. So it's nothin'."

"Oh I'm sorry. Well I was just calling 'cause I said I would and because I wanted to know if I could give you a ride to and from school," Kyle said.

"Oh... Well that would be cool!" Mika told him.

"Great! I'll pick you up around 7:15 aight?" he said sounding excited.

"Sounds good."

"Ok. See you tomorrow," Kyle said and then hung up.

Mika smiled to herself. "Oh yeah... Life is getting good," she said aloud. She then smiled with amusement. 'Hear that Adrea?' she thought, knowing Adrea was listening in on her thoughts. 'Kyle's going to pick me up and take me to school in his car tomorrow. Isn't that great?' She laughed slightly and then started back up on her homework again.


	3. Chapter 3

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Gripping The Fire

Chapter 3

Mika walked down the stairs staring blankly ahead of her. The only sign of emotion were the way her eyes drooped tiredly. Her makeup was done very simply today, wearing only a black line of eyeliner under each eye. Her long red and brown hair hung messily around her shoulders and slightly covered her face. She carelessly dragged her backpack on the floor behind her. A thud was heard every time it fell down to the next step.

"You're up early," her mother said as Mika walked into the kitchen. She then realized how emotionless and strange Mika was acting. "Mikael? Are you ok?" she asked.

"Fine Mom," she said plainly as she grabbed a piece of toast. "And don't call me that." Her mother raised an eyebrow as she watched her walk out of the kitchen and opened the front door. "I'm gonna walk to school today. Bye." She stepped out and closed the door before she could hear any of her mother's comments.

She stood on the front porch for a second and looked around. It was a nice day out. The sky was a clear blue with a few clouds scattered here and there. It was warm and sunny out. It was a perfect day, but Mika was already not enjoying it. She sighed loudly as she sat down on the first step of the porch and rested her head on her knees. She closed her eyes and sat there for a few minutes, doing and thinking about nothing.

A car suddenly drove up and she could hear that it stopped in front of her house. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see an orange 67' Pontiac Firebird parked there. Kyle was sitting in the drivers' seat. Mika raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. 'He's here early...' she thought to herself. He smiled at her and waved for her to go over and get in. She sighed as she got up.

"I think I'm gonna walk to school today. Is that ok?" she asked him opening the passenger door.

"Aw... Why?" he asked disappointed.

"I didn't sleep very good last night and I just... I need to walk for a while and clear my head," she explained.

"Oh... Well..." Kyle paused for a second and then looked closer at her. "Wow. You feeling ok?" he asked her.

"I'm just tired. Why?"

"You're eyes are all red and you like you're getting sick or something..." he told her. Mika looked down and shook her head.

"No... I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Why don't you just stay home ok?" he asked her.

"No... I'll be fine," she quickly said.

"What if you are getting sick? I don't want you walking around by yourself and then get sick at school or something."

Mika thought for a second. What Kyle said made sense, but she was determined to get to school. She didn't want to miss any homework or information. She needed to keep her grades up. "No... I need to go to school."

"Then let me drive you there. Please?"

Mika sighed and thought about it for a second. She then dropped her backpack on the floor in front of the seat and slid in. "Thanks Kyle."

"No problem Mika. I just don't want you dying on the side of the road or something."

Mika smiled slightly at him and then looked forward as he pulled away from the house. She looked over at the door mirror and gasped as she saw her appearance. Her hair was messier than when she had last seen it. She quickly started searching her backpack for a rubber band. When she found one, she put her hair up in a messy bun. She sighed with relief as she saw that the messy bun made her appearance look a little better. She then looked closer at herself.

"Oh my gosh... I do look like I'm sick," she said noticing her red eyes and somewhat pale skin.

"Yeah you do. Wanna go back home?" Kyle asked.

"No! I have to go, ok?" Mika quickly said.

"Ok, ok. Calm down. Promise me you'll go home if you start feeling sick though, ok?" Kyle said sternly. Mika nodded. "Ok. I will."

"Promise me."

"Ok. I promise I'll go home if I start feeling sick."

For the rest of the way to school, Mika had her head resting on her hand with her eyes closed. She tried to keep her eyes open but they felt tired and heavy. She then tried to stay awake but she was extremely tired.

She didn't wake up when they pulled into the school parking lot. Kyle looked over at her and smiled. She was sleeping so peacefully. He didn't want to wake her up, especially since she was looking a bit sick.

He sighed as he turned off the car and pulled the keys out. After he slipped his keys into his pocket, he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned his seat back. He made himself comfortable and then closed his eyes, planning to get a bit more sleep himself.

Fourty-five minutes went by before Mika woke up. Her eyes slowly opened and she lifted her head up when she remembered she was in Kyle's car. Seeing that Kyle was also sleeping, she smiled. She glanced at her watch and froze. School had already started and had been going on for almost half an hour. She opened the car door and stepped out. The sound of the door opening woke Kyle up. Seeing that she was getting out, he set his seat back up and got out too.

"Why did you let me sleep?" Mika asked him.

"You looked really tired and you needed to sleep. And besides, you looked so peaceful and beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to wake you up."

Mika blushed slightly and reached into the car to get her backpack. She looked back at him when she closed the door. "Well thanks for the ride and for letting me sleep longer. I'm gonna go to class now," she said pulling a backpack strap over her shoulder. She turned and started walking towards the school.

"Wait! Hold up!" Kyle said running after her. She stopped and turned around. "Why go now? You already missed the first half-hour of class. No point in going now," he told her. She smiled with amusement.

"Well let's see... I'll still learn something from the rest of the class, I'll get my homework assignment and won't have to ask someone else what it is, and I'll still be marked as there."

"There, but tardy," Kyle said smiling. "Why not skip your first class all together?"

"I never skip my classes. The only way I skip them is if I'm out of town, have some kind of doc appointment, or if I'm sick."

"Well... Why not do something wild and skip this class? I mean, that's not exactly wild, but compared to your record I guess it would be... And plus, you kinda are sick. You didn't get enough sleep and you're looking a bit weak..."

Mika laughed. What he said was basically true. "You really want me to skip class don't you?"

"Just wanna spend more time with you..." he shrugged.

'How much sweeter could he get?!' she thought. "I'm sorry but I'm not skipping school all together." She paused and then smiled at him. "But I guess I can skip the rest of first period."

Kyle smiled widely. "Great! Wanna walk around for a bit? 'Cause you did say you need to take a walk and clear your head."

"That would be good," Mika replied. Kyle took her backpack off her shoulder and walked back to the car. He set her backpack inside and then extended his hand out, inviting her to start walking with him. She smiled, took his hand and began walking with him towards the road.

They decided they would walk to the park that was down the road, hangout there for awhile, and then head back to school.

At the park, Mika sat on one of the swings and made pictures in the sand with her shoes. Kyle laughed as he sat on the swing that was next to her.

"Like drawing in the sand huh?"

"It's fun," she replied as she finished drawing a funny face. "You draw one."

Kyle looked down at the sand and thought about it. He then began to draw something. Mika watched him draw away, a soft smile across her lips. She laughed when she saw what the picture was.

"Like my car picture?" Kyle asked. Mika laughed again.

"So typical... But yes, I like it."

"Typical? Typical?! You talking back to me, woman?!" Kyle said sternly, but was just kidding around. Mika laughed and rolled her eyes. "You did not just roll your eyes at me!" he said looking shocked. He suddenly got off the swing and picked her up over his shoulder. She screamed as he ran towards the grass that surrounded the sandy park and he set her down in the shade of a tree. She lied down and watched as Kyle sat down next to her and then he, too, lied down.

Kyle reached out his arm and Mika rested her neck on his arm as she scooted a bit closer to him. They lied there for a few minutes saying nothing. Just listening to everything going on around them.

Kyle then looked over at Mika. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell peacefully with her steady breathing. 'She must really haven't been getting much sleep...' Kyle thought to himself. He then closed his eyes and began resting again himself.

Mika, thankfully had no nightmares during her morning nap. She woke up with Kyle's arms around her, holding her close to him, while he was asleep. She sighed with a smile and looked up at the tree. She then gently freed one of her arms and picked up a leaf that was on the ground beside her. It suddenly caught on fire and she watched as the fire began to eat up the leaf.

Maybe life wasn't that bad after all. Her family didn't seem like they cared much for her, and her sister obviously didn't, but it wasn't like they neglected her altogether. And not only was Mika a mutant herself, but she had pretty good control over her power. She only wished she could freely use it in public. They decided it was better if she kept her mutation a secret, as she would most likely have to deal with ridicule. Of course Mika knew her parents real reason for keeping it a secret. They were afraid others would look down on them for having a mutant child.

Adrea kept her mutation a secret altogether. Only Mika knew about it. Adrea feared her parents would look down on her and start treating her the way they treat Mika, something Adrea was deadly afraid of.

What made Mika's life seem so much better was Kyle. Kyle seemed to make all of her problems disappear when he was around, and he definitely was making her happier. Just lying there in his arms felt like the best thing in the world to her. She finally had someone who cared about her.

Once the leaf had fully turned to ash, Mika created a flame above her hand and began manipulating it, turning it into different shapes. Kyle suddenly stirred awake and opened his eyes and Mika immediately closed her hand, making the fire disappear.

He looked at her confused. "Were you just holding fire?" he asked.

"What?" Mika said raising an eyebrow and sounding as if she had no clue what he was talking about.

"There was fire on your hand..."

Mika laughed. "You must be seeing things Hun..." she told him. "How could I hold fire on my hand?"

Kyle shrugged and then turned over onto his back. Looking at his watch and sighing he said, "Gotta get back."

Mika sat up and looked down at him. "I think we should stay here all day," she said with a teasing smile.

"Hah... Well that would be great and I wanna say let's, but you said you gotta go to school and I don't want you to not learn something today," he said sitting up. "And besides... It's Wednesday of the second week of the month. I don't want you to get an F on Croaky's pop quiz."

"What?!" Mika said surprised. "We have a pop quiz?!"

"You guys haven't figured that out yet?" Kyle asked shocked. "Every Wednesday of the second week of the month he gives a pop quiz. I thought you knew that."

"Nuh uh... I'm surprised I didn't realize that though."

"Well... You better tell your friends about that." He stood up, offered his hand to her, and pulled her to her feet. They dusted the dirt and grass off their clothes and then headed back to school.

They reached the school halls before anyone got out of class. Kyle followed Mika to her locker and leaned against the locker next to hers. He looked inside as she put a few books inside.

"Lookin' for something to steal?" she asked with a smile.

"Just lookin' at how you decorated it. A person's locker tells a lot about them ya know," he answered.

"Oh really? What does my locker tell about me?"

Kyle took a closer look into her locker. "You like guitars, punk, emo, and alternative music, Pepsi, and... fire." He raised an eyebrow when he said fire, remembering that he thought he had seen Mika holding flames in her hand. "You don't look like that type of girl but that's perfectly fine. I'd say you're one unique young lady. That's what I really like about you." He pushed off of the locker and stood in front of her. He looked into her eyes as he slowly leaned down. Mika's eyes kept looking back and forth between his eyes and lips until he was just inches away from her. Mika closed her eyes and their lips softly touched. She looked at him again as he slowly pulled away, and liking it, their lips touched again. Mika brought her hands up to the nape of his neck and he wrapped one arm around her waist and brought his other hand up to her face. They kissed for several seconds before they were suddenly interrupted.

"Nuh uh! There will not be this type of conduct on school grounds!" a woman yelled from down the hall. They quickly pulled their lips away from each other's and looked to see one of the teachers rushing towards them. They let go of each other and apologized for their behavior.

"Why are you kids out in the hall anyway? You should still be in class," the teacher asked.

"Well Mika here wasn't feeling too well and then we had some car trouble on the way here. We just got here..." Kyle half lied. "We're very sorry we're late."

"Well go check into the office to let them know you're here," she instructed.

"We will Mrs. Giltan," Mika assured. Mika reached back into her locker, making it look like she was busy, and Kyle headed to his own locker. They watched Mrs. Giltan walk down the hall in the corner of their eye. Before she turned the corner to leave, she turned around and looked at them again. She then turned and left down the next hall.

Mika quickly shut and locked her locker, picked up her backpack, and went over to Kyle, whom immediately kissed her again. Of course, they were interrupted again, this time by the bell.

They quickly pulled away as students began rushing out of the classrooms. Mika licked her lips as she looked around at the rushing students. "We better check into the office..." she said turning down the hall. Kyle ran after her and took her hand.

On the way to the office, they passed Adrea. She angrily watched them walk by, hand-in-hand. 'You have no idea what you're getting yourself into...' Adrea's voice echoed in Mika's mind.

'Back off it Adrea. I'm sure you've got far better things to do than sulk around and be mad because I've got the guy and you don't,' Mika responded. When Adrea didn't reply to her, she said, 'Yeah... I thought so...'

Once they checked into the office, they split up and went their separate ways in the hall. Mika found some of her friends over by the drinking fountain. When they asked where she was that morning, she briefly explained what her and Kyle did, trying to leave the intimate details out. They weren't easily fooled however.

"You guys kissed didn't you?" her friend Ellie said raising an eyebrow. Trying not to blush, Mika denied it.

"You guys know I'm not really into that stuff... Especially after what happened with you know who..."

Her friends raised an eyebrow at her. "No one would refuse to kiss Kyle Viellis, including you," Ellie said. "And with the way he looks at you, we all know he wants you."

Mika's jaw dropped when Ellie said that. She then started laughing. "You're such a prep," she said playfully pushing Ellie.

"Oh... Look who's coming now..." their friend Nathan said raising an eyebrow. They all turned and saw Kyle coming towards them. "It's Loverboy..." Nathan said rolling his eyes.

Kyle walked over to Mika and took her hands. "You gonna eat with us today?" he asked her.

"Well I kinda wanted to eat with my friends but if you want me to sit with you, I can," she told him.

"Oh no that's fine. You can eat with your friends. I don't mind."

"You sure?"

"Yeah... I can just eat with you." He turned and looked at her friends. "That is... If it's ok with them."

"Oh that's fine!" Ellie quickly blurted out.

"Eh... Whatever..." Nathan said leaning against the wall.

"Well if you guys don't want me to, it's fine," Kyle replied with a shrug.

"No no no no. Just ignore Nathan. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Of course you can sit with us at lunch," Ellie said.

"Yeah Kyle. I'd love it if you would join us for lunch," Mika said turning Kyle's head towards her. He smiled.

"Alright." He put his hand under her chin and made her look up at him more and then kissed her. It was a soft and affectionate kiss that lasted ten seconds.

Ellie watched wide-eyed with surprise. She had not expected him to kiss Mika right then and there.

They pulled away from each other's lips and smiled. Kyle grabbed her hand as he turned to walk away and she turned with him.

"I'll see you later," he said.

"Bye."

Kyle began walking away and then let go of her hand when she wasn't in reach anymore. Mika turned back to her friends and smiled. She then noticed the strange look they were giving her.

"What?!" she asked confused.

Ellie smiled widely. "Something tells me things got more heated this morning than that kiss you just shared," she said. Mika laughed and pushed her.

"You think whatever you want. I'm not denying, nor am I admitting to anything. What goes on between him and I with stay between him and I only. Well... Unless he does something that I just can't keep to myself," Mika laughed. She leaned down and took a sip of water from the water fountain and turned back to her friends. "We better get to class guys... Before the bell..." Mika was suddenly cut off as the bell suddenly rang. "Rings..." Mika finished.

Ellie laughed. "See you guys next period," Ellie said heading off. Mika waved bye to her, said bye to Nathan, and then headed towards her next class.


	4. Chapter 4

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Gripping The Fire

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Chapter 4

Mika stared blankly at the open math book that sat on her bed in front of her. Her mind had gone blank when she began trying to figure out how to solve these algebra questions.

"[12+(2squared x 32)-(7/2)]x3 equals what?" Kyle said. He was sitting next to her on her bed. She slowly looked up at him from her book and shook her head.

"No idea," she answered.

Kyle laughed and began explaining how to solve it. "Ok the answer is 409.5," he concluded. Mika raised an eyebrow and looked down at the problem again, trying to see in her mind how that was the answer. Her face suddenly lightened with understanding. "Oh... Ok. I get it now," she said. "See... I told you I'm terrible at math."

"Not math. Just algebra in particular," Kyle corrected. Mika started laughing.

"So you're saying I really am terrible at it huh?" she asked.

Kyle smiled and then laughed. He hadn't realized that what he said had implied she really was bad at math. "Yes. You are the worst person at algebra than I've ever seen," he said sarcastically.

"Uh! Hey!" Mika said playfully pushing his shoulder.

"You know I'm just playing," he said placing one of her pillows behind him. He leaned back on the pillow and watched Mika as she began to work on the next problem. She then looked over at him and smiled.

"What?" he asked curiously. Mika looked back down at her book.

"How about we... take a little break..." she said closing her math book, "have a little snack, watch some cartoons, and then work on this." She looked back over at him, a smile still across her face. A smile made it's way to Kyle's face.

"Sounds good to me! Let's go and get some food!"

They jumped off the bed and headed to her door. "First person to the kitchen chooses the cartoon!" Mika said and began running. Kyle quickly ran after her and tried to beat her by jumping over two stairs at a time. Even though this allowed him to catch up to her, he didn't win.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Kyle told her.

"Well too bad," she said sarcastically with a smile. She opened the fridge and the first thing she saw was a huge batch of red and juicy strawberries. "Well here's our perfect snack," she said pulling the strawberries out. She put a bunch in a large bowl, and then poured sugar in another bowl and grabbed a tub of cool whip. Kyle grabbed some napkins and followed her up the stairs to her room.

They both plopped down on her bed and Mika reached for the TV remote. She turned on the TV and checked the menu to see what was on. "Oh my gosh! Batman's on!" she said turning it to the station that was showing Batman the series.

"Batman rocks," Kyle said excitedly.

"You bet he does!" Mika said turning up the volume. She then grabbed a strawberry out of the bowl and dipped it in the sugar. She took a big bite of it and then rooted for Batman as he began kicking some villain butt. "Go Batman! You kick their butts!" she cheered.

Kyle began laughing. "That's great!" he told her. "You're so hilarious! I love it!"

Mika laughed. "Well you gotta cheer Batman on! 'Cause if you don't he'll find you and kick your butt for not cheering for him," Mika told him. "Believe me. He's found me before. 'Cept he didn't kick my butt... He just lectured me."

Kyle looked down at Mika and smiled. "You are such a rare and unique person Mika. I didn't realize how special you are until now."

Mika looked down, embarrassed by what he said, and blushed. "Is that special like Special Ed or is that special like one-of-a-kind?" she asked. Kyle couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so crazy. I love your sense of humor. And that's special as in one-of-a-kind. I haven't met anyone like you before." He paused for a second and they looked into each other's eyes. They slowly began to tilt their heads to the side and leaned closer to each other. "You're so... Oh what's the word?" He thought for a second. "Unreal..."

"Is that... a good thing?" Mika asked barely above a whisper as she looked back and forth between his eyes and lips.

"It's a very good thing..." Kyle answered. Then they kissed softly, yet passionately.

Mika took a deep breath when their lips left each other's, and Kyle licked his lips while a smile tickled the corners of his lips. "Why don't we... skip the cartoon, skip the strawberries and whipped cream... and go straight for the sugar?"

Mika raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "You don't mean this sugar do you?" she asked holding up the bowl of sugar. Kyle laughed.

"No... Not that sugar."

"I had a feeling you didn't mean..." Mika was suddenly cut off from Kyle's lips touching hers. As Kyle continued to kiss her, he reached out to take the bowl of sugar from her and then carefully set it on the sidetable that was by her bed.

Mika was thoroughly enjoying Kyle's company. She loved the attention he gave her and she loved how he made her feel. She had never felt this way before. It was such a foreign feeling. She wanted it to go away, but then she wanted it to stay. He made her feel special, worth being alive and being who she was. He liked her for her, for the way she was, and he didn't seem to want her to change, which was perfect because she didn't want to change and she was definitely not changing herself for anyone. For the first time in a long time, she felt content. She was happy with how things were working out and she didn't want anything to change.

Kyle put his hands around Mika's waist and gently pulled her onto his lap. Mika placed one of her hands on his chest and her other hand ran through the hair on the back of his head. Kyle suddenly pulled her closer to him, and then his lips slowly kissed their way down to her neck. Mika took a deep breath as she looked up and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on her neck. She closed her eyes again when he moved and began kissing her shoulder.

His hands suddenly, yet slowly, began to push up her shirt. Mika realized this when his hands touched her stomach, as this spot was a bit of a ticklish spot. She didn't twitch, however. She opened her eyes quickly and wondered how far Kyle was expecting them to go. She, for sure, wasn't going to go passed kissing. She tried to think of the best thing to do and say in order for them to stick with only kissing.

Suddenly, the bowl of strawberries fell off the bed and spilt all over the floor. Mika and Kyle quickly jumped to pick them up. As they were picking them up, Adrea came into the room.

"You're in so much trouble when Mom finds out you got strawberries on the floor," she told Mika. "Oh and Mom called and said to vacuum, clean the kitchen, and make dinner tonight. She wants it all done before she gets home."

Mika's jaw dropped. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"No, I'm not."

Mika sighed irritatedly and then looked at Kyle. "Sorry but I guess you gotta leave sooner than I thought..." she told him.

"Aight. That's ok,' he said as he picked up the last few strawberries and dropped them in the bowl.

They stood up and Mika was sure to put the bowls on the table, a solid surface where it couldn't topple over easily. Kyle grabbed his backpack and Mika followed him out and down the stairs to the front door.

"Thanks for helping me with my math, Kyle," she said opening the door for him.

"You're very welcome. You can ask me for help anytime. I'd be happy to come over and help you again," he said with a wink. Mika smiled knowingly and raised an eyebrow.

"Well I guarantee I'll be asking for help again," she assured him.

Kyle smiled and leaned forward. They kissed again for a few seconds and then Kyle turned and left.

After Mika closed the door, she turned around and glared at Adrea, who was standing at the top of the stairs watching her. Mika glared at her with disgust as she walked up the stairs and stopped for a second right in front of Adrea. She then gave her somewhat of a nasty look and then continued on her way back to her room.

Adrea followed her and leaned against the doorframe. She watched Mika as she began to pick up her books and straighten out her bed.

"It's too bad that bowl of strawberries fell, isn't it?" Adrea asked with a smirk. Mika stopped what she was doing and looked at her.

"I know you made that bowl fall Adrea. Don't try to deny it. We were no where near it. We didn't touch it and the mattress was hardly moving. It did not just fall over on it's own."

Adrea gave her a matter-of-fact smile and shrugged. "I don't deny it."

Mika rolled her eyes and sighed irritatedly. "I know you did it with the soul intention of ending our little 'study session,' but I just want to thank you for doing that," Mika suddenly said. Adrea's eyebrows shot up with surprise.

"What?!"

"That's right. It distracted him from trying to get in my pants, and I thank you for that because I'm not ready for that type of relationship. So thanks!" Mika smiled fakely at her. "Now go out!"

Adrea's jaw dropped and she turned around and walked away. As she turned around, she used her telekinetic power and slammed Mika's door shut.

That was it. Adrea had had it. She was _not_ going to let her little sister get the guy she wanted. She stomped down the stairs and stopped short in her tracks when she went into the living room. Her eyes seemed to fire up with anger and rage as she glared at a small picture of Mika that sat on one of the light stands. Her plan began to form in her mind. She grinned mischievously, with a drop of evil. "Just wait Mikael Bradley Shore... You _will_ pay," Adrea said quietly. She then turned and began to walk into the kitchen, her mischievous grin still across her face.


	5. Chapter 5

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Gripping The Fire

Chapter 5

Mika laughed as she continued to listen to the phone. Her and Kyle had been talking for about an hour. He called her to make sure she was going to get to bed early that night so she could sleep longer. The conversation then slowly moved onto the topic of how she was having nightmares. She told him only very little of what happened in them, but he could tell they disturbed her. Then Kyle changed the subject to something better. They began talking about the different pranks they've tried and want to try out soon.

"We need to go and do some of these pranks together this weekend," Kyle told her.

"Yes. Definitely," Mika agreed. Mika suddenly heard someone walking outside her room in the hall. She looked over at the door quickly. "Uh oh... Someone's up. I've gotta go before I get in trouble," she told him.

"Ok well I hope you get some sleep tonight and you don't have anymore nightmares," he replied.

"Thanks. I hope so too."

"And if you want to, you can call me anytime. Even if it's like 3 in the morning," he offered. "I'd be glad to talk to you or meet you somewhere if you need to get away for a bit."

Mika smiled. "Thanks Kyle. I'll keep that in mind." She glanced at the clock, which said 10:13. "Aight well I'll see you tomorrow," Mika whispered into the phone. "Goodnight." Mika quickly hung up the phone and hopped into bed. She then grabbed her stereo remote, turned on a mellow alternative song, set it on repeat, and turned on the sleep mode. She then reached over and switched off the sidetable lamp, making the room almost completely black.

A little while after she fell asleep, she began to dream. Something she hoped would not happen.

Her dream started out fine. Pleasant even. She dreamt her life was perfect, having everything she really wanted. Material things, as well as something she wanted more than anything. A family that loved her and cared for her. Her dream slowly took a different turn, turning into, yet, another nightmare. Each second became worse than before. Her biggest fears were happening. Her family began to hate her, along with her friends. Then a man began to try and kill her. Then one of her biggest fears happened. She could no longer control fire. The one thing she loved and thanked God for had disappeared. Her only sense of power was suddenly gone. She felt empty and hallow.

She suddenly began running through a forest and this time the fire consumed everything around her. But she couldn't control it. She couldn't stop it. She could only run. Run from the man with the shining knife. Everything she saw was a blurred reddish color, like a bright and vivid blood red. The trees she ran past crackled and snapped at her. The flames grabbed at her like vicious greedy hands. They were no longer her power, but her foe.

Hearing the sound of footsteps gaining on her she burst through the trees, and ran for her house. Just as she reached her front steps a sharp pain sliced through her back. She fell forward and gripped the last step to try to pull herself up, but it suddenly turned to flames and began burning her. She cried out in pain and rolled over. And there stood the man with the knife that dripped her blood. His bright and glowing red eyes glared down at her while his evil smile expressed his pleasure and satisfaction of causing her pain. Adrea then appeared above her, an evil smile spreading across her face also as she grinned at the man. Her mother came out of the house and pointed a finger at Mika.

"Why can't you be more like your sister Adrea, Mikael?!" her mother yelled. "You're such an embarrassment to us!" Adrea suddenly laughed. She laughed as the man held the knife up to finish Mika off.

"NO!" Mika wailed, kicking and screaming. The fire began to eat up everything around her and she began to smell smoke. Through the haze she could see them laughing. Laughing at her. The bloody red knife glinted as it came down towards her. "NO!" she yelled kicking at the figure. Then she heard a loud crash...

Mika stirred awake when she heard the loud crash. She shot straight up in her bed and her eyes flew open. She was sweating bullets and she was breathing with short deep breaths. It only took her a second to realize her room was filled from floor to ceiling with fire and had already entered into the hallway and reached the stairs. It was eating up everything it touched. Everything except her.

She then heard some terrified screams and running footsteps. She jumped out of bed and quickly extended her hands. 'Oh please god, let my power work,' she prayed remembering her dream. She sighed with great relief when it did work. She quickly cleared a path for herself through the fire and ran to find her family.

She wanted so badly to just make the fire stop, but she just couldn't. If she did, people would find out she was a mutant, which was something she knew would not be good because of the recent anti-mutant riots. Another reason was the fire was already too large for her to fully control. If she were to try to, it could go completely out of control and cause an explosion or it could jump over to another house, something she wasn't willing to risk.

Mika ran down the stairs and saw her parents trying to get out the front door. The doorknob was too hot however, so Mika quickly pushed her parents out of the way and opened the door with no problem, because she also endured and controlled heat. Mika held open the door as they all ran out to the front yard and then she followed them.

It was obvious someone had already called the fire department because they could hear the sirens farther off. Mika stood there and stared blankly at her burning house. She grabbed nothing when she ran to get out, though she could have. She didn't grab her teddy bear that she had had since she was a baby. She didn't grab her CD player or CDs. She didn't grab her guitar, nor did she grab her journal that was full of poems and songs written by her. It was all gone by now. There was no way to save her things.

Tears made their way to her eyes and slowly streamed down her cheek. As she silently cried, she thought about how the fire might have started. She then realized what happened. She began to shake with fright. Her dream had scared her so much that her body became hotter than usual. Her sweat and body heat became so hot that her sheets began to burn as if they were sitting on a light bulb. They, then, caught on fire.

Mika sat down on the cement sidewalk and pulled her knees up to her chest. She continued to stare at the burning house while her tears fell freely. Her family suddenly surrounded her and she looked up at them, expecting to see sad or crying faces, but saw, instead, their angry glares.

"Why did you do that?!" her mother yelled.

"I didn't do it on purpose! I promise! I didn't mean to!" Mika told them quickly.

"But you didn't put it out! Why didn't you put it out?!" her dad yelled.

"I told you we should've given her to someone else when we found out she was a mutant," Adrea suddenly said to their parents. "She's just a dumb _mutie_ who doesn't know how to use her powers. You're so stupid Mika. You should've run away before this happened. Woulda made everyone happier if you did."

At this point, Mika was becoming angry. She stood up and glared furiously at Adrea. "Don't you _dare_ call me a mutie Adrea," she said through clenched teeth.

"I can call you whatever I want, _Mutie_!" Adrea replied.

Mika's eyes suddenly flashed red. Adrea was entering very dangerous grounds. Being called a mutie was offensive and Mika was not ready to deal with it, especially since it was coming from Adrea, beause Adrea, too, was a mutant.

Mika tightened her fists and glared at Adrea. She began to feel her body literally heat up from rage. She tried to hold back from yelling at Adrea and she tried not to lose full control over herself.

"We knew you were gonna be trouble from the start. Ever since you were just a fetus," Adrea began. "Even I knew it and I was only two! I didn't want a brother or sister. I've never wanted one in my whole life.

"You were just a mistake. You weren't supposed to come. You embarrass us. You give the Shore's a bad name and reputation!"

Mika tried to hold back with all her might. As Adrea spoke these words to her in her bitter, hateful, and satanic tone, Mika clenched her jaw and fists tightly and without realizing it, fire sparked on the ground around Mika and slowly grew larger and the fire in the house became even more wild as Mika became angrier.

"You'll never measure up to be a Shore!" Adrea suddenly yelled. Mika snapped. The fire around her suddenly flamed up and blazed twenty feet high and the fire in the house exploded, causing pieces of wood and glass to fly through the air all around them. Adrea and her parents screamed as they dropped to the ground and covered their heads.

Looking up at Mika, they shrunk back with pure fear. They could see her anger and rage cleary and it scared them.

"Never live up to being a Shore huh?!" Mika yelled. "Why would I _want_ to be a Shore?! You're all just rich little _snobs_ who care about _nothing_ but _yourselves_, your _money_, and your material things! You think you're better than everyone when you're not! And what the _hell_ is wrong with mutants?! You're all just jealous because we can do things that you _can't_! I'm tired of dealing with you every single day! You're all just money hungry, haughty, stupid, and powerless _pigs_! And I am through with you!" Mika threw up her hands and the fire around her blazed higher. It then flew forward towards Adrea when Mika pointed her hands at her. Adrea flew back as the fire hit her and she screamed in complete terror. Adrea got up and held her hands out in front of her, preparing to create a shield.

'Be careful what you do Adrea, dear. We don't want Mommy and Daddy to know what you _really_ are, do we?' Mika thought in her head with an unusually calm tone as she slowly walked towards Adrea. She knew Adrea could hear her and Adrea looked horrified at her and then turned and ran. 'Yes darling sister. Running would be a good idea. I'm sure you don't want to hang around with me for a while,' Mika thought calmly as she continued to follow Adrea.

Her tone was so calm, unnatural, and emotionless and she walked unusually graceful as she followed Adrea. No one had ever seen Mika this way before. She had never even thought this way before either. She had seriously snapped. She lost her sanity.

The fire followed closely behind Mika while it also stayed behind. Her mind was linked to the fire's mind, and it was going to do anything she did and anything she told it to do. It followed Mika's hands as she spread her arms out and then quickly threw them out in front of her. The fire quickly raced around in front of Adrea and blocked her from running any farther.

Adrea stopped quickly and turned to face Mika. She looked at Mika, begging for mercy with her eyes. Mika assumed her calm and emotionless expression.

'Whatcha gonna do big sister? Can't run anymore, now can ya?' Mika said.

"Mika! Let me go!" Adrea yelled. Mika suddenly showed a sign of emotion. She raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

"Let _you_ go? Now why would I want to do that?" Mika asked her with an innocent tone of voice. Her expression then changed to anger in a split second and she began to speak with a low and angry tone. "I've lived through _hell_ for the past fifteen years and it's mostly thanks to _you_. Don't you think it's time I give you the pleasure of going through what I went through?"

Adrea backed up as far away from Mika as she could. "Mika... Don't hurt me," she said. Mika let out a low and evil laugh.

"Mikael Bradley Shore! You stop this right now!" her mother suddenly yelled. Mika's head turned quickly and looked at her for a second before she threw a wave of fire at her. The force of the fire made her mother fall back and she began to scream.

"You stay out of this!" Mika hissed. She turned back towards Adrea and glared.

'Don't make me hurt you Mika,' Adrea's voice echoed in her head.

'What are you talking about Adrea? You've hurt me for 15 years with your bitter words. No one can hurt me more than you have, physically and mentally.'

'Back down right now Mika, or I'll be forced to hurt you,' Adrea warned again.

"_DON'T THREATEN ME!_" Mika screamed as she threw a large fire wave at Adrea. Adrea quickly created a force field around herself before the fire could hit her, but it was too short notice and the shield quickly weakened and she flew back from the force of the fire.

"You asked for it!" Adrea yelled as she stood up. She reached her hands out in front of her and was about to take hold of Mika, but they suddenly heard the fire trucks coming down the street and they pulled up in front of the house. Mika turned and watched the firemen get ready to spray water on her fire. She looked at them with a hurtful expression and she tried to think of what to do. She looked over at Adrea and watched as she slowly moved away and ran over to their parents.

Several police cars then pulled up and the policemen jumped out of their cars and pointed their guns at Mika. Mika finally snapped out her insanity and realized what she had done was totally out of her character and that she shouldn't have done it. She stood there, scared to death, and watched the policemen point their fully loaded guns at her.

"Put your hands on your head and stay where you are!" one of the policemen yelled. Mika looked around. The firemen had gone around them and began spraying water on the burning house. She watched them for a second and then turned back to the police.

"Put your hands on your head!" the policemen repeated. Mika bit her lip and looked back and forth between her family, the police, and the burning house. She then looked at her family one last time. Surprisingly, she smiled at them and then suddenly turned around and began running into the burning house. The police, firemen, and her family watched her in complete shock and then two firemen suddenly ran in to find her.

As Mika ran, she created a path through the fire. She kept running through the house till she reached where the back door had been. Stopping at the back door, she turned around and reached her hands out, palms facing the ceiling. "Don't fail me now my friend," she said to the fire. She then suddenly threw her hands up quickly and the fire obeyed, blazing violently as if someone sprayed flammable liquid on it. There was somewhat of an explosion, and Mika took this as her que to leave. She ran out the back door and jumped over the fence. Then she began to run. She just kept running. She didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Tears fell down her face as she ran, and she never bothered to look behind her. She didn't want to look back, nor was she ever going back again.


	6. Chapter 6

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Gripping The Fire

Chapter 6

Kyle slept soundly in his comfortable bed. He was cuddled up under his thick comforter and made no movements except for the rising and falling of his chest while he breathed at a steady pace. He was suddenly stirred awake when he heard a ringing sound. He didn't think much of it except that it would stop soon. It did stop after a while, but then started up again 30 seconds later.

He opened his eyes and blinked several times to clear his eyes a bit. Sitting up, he looked around his room and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark and then realized the ringing was his phone. He quickly reached for it and hit the talk button.

"Hello?" he answered sleepily.

"Kyle?"

Kyle rubbed his eyes. "Mika? What's wrong? It's 2 in the morning. Did you have another nightmare?" he asked.

"It's worse than a nightmare," Mika told him. She sounded like she had been crying.

"Mika? What's wrong? Were you crying?" he asked worriedly.

"I need to get out of here... I can't stay here anymore."

"Why don't you come over here?" Kyle offered. "You can stay here for a while until you're ready to go back home."

"I'm not going back home Kyle. I can't go back. Just... Can you come and get me?"

"Yeah. Of course I can."

"I'm at the 7-11 on Baker Street. Don't tell anyone where I am or where you're going ok?"

"Alright. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

They hung up and Kyle started getting dressed to leave. He quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper and placed it on his bed. It read "Went for a late night drive. Be back later. Kyle" He left it there in case his parents came in to check on him. On the way to get Mika, he flicked on the radio and the station it was on was talking about a house that caught on fire because of a mutant.

"The victims of this terrible tragedy are Cody, Marie, and Adrea Shore. The mutant has been identified as Mikael Shore, Cody and Marie's youngest daughter, who is the age of 15. She was last seen running back into the burning house. They're not sure if she is still alive, because there was an explosion after she ran in. The house is still on fire, but they are close to fully putting it out. That's all the information we have at the moment. We'll update more as we get more information."

Kyle's jaw dropped. He didn't know what to think. Mika was a mutant, and he DID see her holding fire at the park.

He pulled up to the 7-11 and saw Mika sitting against the wall with her knees up to her chest. She was wearing a white tank top and baggy strawberry pattern pajama pants. Her clothes were a little scorched, but they weren't burned and contained no holes.

Kyle quickly jumped out after he parked and ran over to her as she got up. He hugged her closely and she cried in his chest.

"I didn't mean to!" she mumbled through her tears.

"Shhh... It's ok Mika. You don't have to explain what happened," Kyle told her.

She pulled away and looked up at him. Her face was dirty and was streaked from her crying.

"I have to get out of here Kyle... I can't stay here anymore," she told him.

"Ok. I'll drive you wherever you wanna go."

"Anywhere. Just get me out of here," she cried. Kyle pulled her close to him again and then picked her up. He opened the passenger side door and set her inside and then ran around to the driver's side.

"I'll get you out of here," he told as he started up the car. He quickly pulled out of the parking lot and started for the nearest freeway.

They drove for two hours straight. Neither of them said a word the whole way. Mika cried silently off and on and slept for about half an hour during the trip. Kyle was sure to keep the radio off. Hearing something about what happened wouldn't be the best thing for Mika at the time.

The car stopped at a small motel around 4:30am and Kyle went in and got a room for them for the rest of the morning. Mika was sleeping at the time, but she didn't wake up.

After he went into their room and pulled back the blankets on one of the beds, he went back to the car to get Mika. Kyle carefully lifted her out of the car and she immediately cuddled closer to him and continued to sleep. He looked at her quiet form and sighed. 'I can't do this anymore,' he thought to himself.

He took her into their room and gently layed her on one of the two beds. He made sure to get a room with two beds because he wasn't sure if she would want to share one or not. If she didn't want to share, he didn't want to end up sleeping on the floor.

After he tucked her into the bed, he got into the other one and made himself comfortable. He was very tired, but he was afraid to fall asleep. He was worried about Mika. He was worried she might start a fire or something and he was also worried just about her. He wanted to make sure she was going to be ok. With every movement he heard coming from her, he looked over at her and held his breath for a few seconds, and when he realized she was fine, he would let out a sigh of relief.

Soon, he was no longer able to keep his eyes open and he began to fall asleep. When he was halfway asleep, he heard Mika stirring awake and then heard her get up. Kyle opened his eyes a little and watched the outline of her body while it quietly walked over to him. When she stopped in front of him, he scooted over and held up the blankets, offering to let her lay under the blankets with him.

"I'll be fine on top of the blankets," she said quietly. Kyle put the blankets back down and took her hand as she lied down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled closer to him while he thought about what to say. Before he could say anything, she began to talk.

"So you know what I am?" she asked quietly. Kyle hesitated.

"If you mean do I know you're a mutant, then yes I know," he answered. Mika took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you... And I hope that doesn't change how you see me."

"You being a mutant doesn't change anything Mika. You're still the fun, sarcastic, and beautiful girl I knew and that's all that matters. You are who you are."

Mika stayed quiet. She was glad he still saw her the same way. She was actually _very_ glad because he was all she had left. At least that's what she thought.

"Tomorrow we'll go to a store and get you some clothes ok?" Kyle told her. She half smiled. "No it's ok... I can just wear what I have on now."

"No really Mika. I'll get you some clothes. I don't think you want to walk around in your pajamas all day."

Mika sighed. "Ok. Thank you so much for being here for me Kyle. You don't know how much this means to me."

"You're welcome. I'm glad to be here for you," he replied. He took a deep breath and then yawned. " Ok let's go back to sleep now. I'm really tired."

"Ok. Goodnight."

"Night."

They both closed their eyes and fell asleep within ten minutes.

Mika woke up again around 8:30 that morning. She slowly became conscious of what happened and when she realized it, her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly. Looking around the room, she saw Kyle wasn't there. She slowly started to panic.

"Kyle?" she called. "Kyle? Are you in here?" She began to breathe hard as her thoughts began to run wild. She began to think he left her there. Something she was scared of the most now. Tears started to make their way to her eyes and then she saw him out the window. He was walking back from the office. Mika flung open the door and he quickly ran over to her when he saw she was about to cry.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he hugged her close.

"I woke up and you weren't there and I thought you might have left me," she explained.

"Oh Mika... I wouldn't just leave you. That would be so cruel. I just went to turn in the room key."

Mika took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as she composed herself. She stepped back and looked up at him. "I'm sorry Kyle. I'm just... I'm really paranoid now. I'm scared of losing the last thing I have." She looked down at the ground and slowly turned around. Kyle watched her walk into the bathroom and shut the door. Once he heard the shower running, he sat down on a bed and held his head in his hands.

"What am I going to do?" he said aloud. He remained quiet for a few minutes as he tried to think of something. "I'm such a jerk!" he suddenly said. "Why did I do this?! Gah!" He stood back up and looked at himself in the mirror that hung above the desk. "I'm so stupid," he whispered. Just then he heard the shower shut off. He cursed under his breath as he walked over to the bed and sat down again.

He needed to call his parents and tell them he was ok and that he was going to be out for the rest of the day. He hesitated and then picked up the phone and dialed the number. His mother answered after the first ring and it turned out they were very worried. Kyle assured them he was fine and would be home that afternoon or evening.

Mika stepped out of the bathroom just as he hung up the phone. "Hey. Who'd you call?" she asked.

"My parents. I told them I'm fine and I'll be back later today."

"But what about me? I'm not going back there so what am I supposed to do?"

"Mika... You can't run away. You have to go back."

"No! I don't have to go back and I'm not going to!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm _NOT_!" Mika turned to run to the door but Kyle got up and blocked her. He grabbed her wrists when she tried to push him out of the way. "Let me go!" she screamed. "I'm not going back! You can't make me go!"

"Mika! Calm down!" Kyle said tightening his grip. She then started trying to hit him and screamed for him to let her go. Then tears came to her eyes and she began to cry as she gave up on trying to get past him. Kyle put his arms around her again and she cried into his chest.

"You don't know what I've been through Kyle! You don't know! I can't stay here! Don't make me stay! I'd rather die out in the world than stay with those people!" she cried.

Kyle felt terrible. He didn't know what to do anymore. He wanted to help her, but he needed to get back home before anyone suspected him of anything. He took a deep breath as he looked down her and then he slowly moves over to the nearest bed and sat down. Mika sat next to him and he still kept his arms around her.

"Here's what we'll do... We'll go and get you some new clothes and anything else you might need, and then we'll go and eat. We'll figure the rest out after that. Sound ok?" Kyle asked. Mika nodded slightly and sniffed every couple seconds. Kyle put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. He gently wiped away a few tears that were rolling down her cheek. "Don't cry Mika. Your face is too perfect to have tears running down it." Mika suddenly felt sadder and she tried to hold back from crying. She closed her eyes and when another tear escaped her eye, Kyle wiped it away and then made her head tilt up more to look at him. She opened her eyes and found Kyle looking softly into her eyes. He leaned down slightly and softly, yet passionately, kissed her lips. She wanted so much to just put her arms around him, but she held back. Tears began to fall again and she stood up.

"Don't... Just don't," she told him.

"Don't what?" he asked standing up also.

"Don't kiss me anymore. Don't do anything that shows how you feel about me. It hurts too much to know I won't see you after today."

"What do you mean? We just agreed to see how things go today."

"No. You agreed to. I didn't. I'm not staying here Kyle. I would rather die a horrible and violent death than stay and live with my 'family' for the few years before I can legally leave them. Don't try to talk me out of it Kyle. It won't work. I'm leaving no matter what."

Kyle just looked at her. 'Dammit!' he thought. 'She's becoming too independent and determined now for it to work.' He was finally seeing how much she wanted and needed to leave. She was definitely going to fight him if he tried to get her back, and that was something he didn't want.

He sighed loudly and threw his hands into the air. "I give up!" he told her. "Mika... There's something I need to tell you. You're gonna hate me after I tell you this."

Mika looked at him, confused about what would ever make her hate him.

"I played you... And I feel horrible," he said bluntly.

"What?" Mika asked raising an eyebrow.

"It was a bet. The guys betted that I wouldn't be able to get a sophomore to the dance, and get her in bed before that. I'm such a jackass for doing this. I'm so sorry Mika. Some of what I told you was true though! You _are_ very beautiful, funny, and sweet. And you are _definitely_ unique. I'm just not really interested in you."

Mika couldn't breath. She was afraid to. She felt angry and furious, yet sad. She couldn't believe he did this. She tried to keep everything inside, but she couldn't.

"How could you do this?! You came and made me think you liked me and made me want to be with you every second of the day! You got me to skip class! You got me to make out with you! You bastard!" she screamed. She clenched her teeth and her fists suddenly lit up with fire. "Why did I let you do that to me?! I would've never let anyone do that after what happened with me and Dwayne! How could I let you in?!"

"I'm empathic," Kyle said softly. Mika's eyes narrowed in on him. "You're a what?" she asked.

"I'm a mutant. I can control people's emotions, including mutants," he explained, his voice still quiet.

Mika could feel her anger boiling up inside her. How could she let her emotions be controlled? She knew that if you had a strong and independent mind, no one would be able to control you, but somehow she became weak. 'Maybe it's because I wanted so badly to get back at Adrea,' she thought. She suddenly snapped, yet again.

"You used your power to get me to like you?! Is that why you're so popular in school?! You made everyone like you?!"

Kyle remained quiet, indicating what she said had some truth to it.

"You disgust me!" she yelled. "I felt you were my only reason to be alive! I had nothing else to live for! Now I see it's just one big lie!" Mika pointed her hands at Kyle and the fire that rested on her hands flew over to Kyle and rested on his clothes and began chewing up the material. He quickly fell to the floor and began trying to put it out.

"Have a nice day," Mika said sarcastically. She then turned to the door and opened it. Turning back to Kyle, she said, "By the way... Adrea's telepathic and telekinetic. Might wanna tell people to watch out." Then she left the room and headed for the road.

"Mika!" Kyle yelled. "Come back! I told you I feel terrible and I'm sorry!" Once the fire was fully out, he ran out of the room and looked around for her. After not finding her, he went back into the room and dialed a number. "Yeah Mom... I'm coming home now. I'll be there in about two hours."

Mika sat quietly on the seat. She glanced at the man driving the big rig and then looked back at the road.

"Thanks again for letting me catch a ride," she said.

"You're very welcome," he replied.

"So... How far you going?"

"I'll be going as far as Reno," he answered. "So that's as far as I can take you. Is that ok?"

Mika smiled. "That's perfect," she said. "Just as long as I'm out of this area." She suddenly smiled to herself. She was happy she was finally getting out of town. Now she would no longer have to worry about Adrea.

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Coming Soon  
_Shapeshift My World_- A continuation of Gripping The Fire.

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Note From LegacyFPlus:  
I'd just like to say thank you to Legend, who continuously bugged me to finish my first Mika story after she read the first couple chapters. I would also like to thank her for writing one of the dreams that Mika has for me. I suddenly hit a writer's block when I reached that part, and in order for the story to go on, she wrote it for me. ^_^ Love ya much Legend!


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